A Chinese envoy Tuesday called on the United Nations to give more support to the collective security capacity building of the African Union (AU) to help the African continent maintain peace and security.
Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, noted that the strengthening UN-AU cooperation in peace and security has played a positive role in maintaining peace and stability in Africa.
"The AU is faced with difficulties in human and financial resources in the field of peace and security building, and therefore needs strong support and assistance from the international community," Liu told a Security Council debate on UN-AU peace and security cooperation.
"We hope the UN will provide more support to the AU's collective security mechanism, particularly in personnel training, institutional building, logistic support and financial support," he said.
"We also hope that the UN will further support the African standby force, African rapid response force, to address regional terrorism, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, so as to increase the overall collective security capacity of Africa," he added.
Pointing out that UN-AU cooperation should firmly stick to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the envoy said that the world body should further support the AU in peaceful settlement of disputes through dialogue, consultations, good offices and mediation on the basis of respecting the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all the countries.
He said that to find solutions to hotspot issues in Africa, it is important to consider the historical background and the reality and to take comprehensive measures so as to seek security and promote security through cooperation.
"China welcomes the African Peace and Security Architecture Roadmap (2016-2020), which has prioritized conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rebuilding," he said, adding that China hopes that the UN will strengthen cooperation with the AU and supports the AU in implementing the roadmap.
China attaches great importance to enhancing cooperation with Africa in peace and security, said Liu, noting that China has so far participated in 16 UN peacekeeping operations in Africa.
At present, more than 2,600 Chinese peacekeepers are deployed in seven UN missions, which include those in Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Darfur and Liberia.
China has also dispatched convoy fleets to the Somali waters and the Gulf of Eden, so as to help the countries in the region address piracy.
